Group to Help Fund Sales Research

How credible is radio to its clients? Hoping to make advertisers more confident, an industry group has begun an effort to fund research into radio's effectiveness. The Radio Ad Effectiveness Lab revealed a cooperative program involving real-world ad testing. "In partnership with major national advertisers, RAEL will help fund the research and execute the analytical portions of in-market tests of radio advertising," stated the group. It said advertisers would be involved in developing the test scenarios. "The goal of the research program is to elevate the credibility of radio advertising across a variety of account categories," stated Owen Charlebois, the president of Arbitron U.S. Media Services and co-chair of RAEL. The RAEL Research Committee is chaired by Jerry Lee of WBEB and includes members from radio, research and advertiser organizations. Info: www.radioadlab.org.